Senior Policy Officer

Women's Aid Federation of England; West of England; Remote; GBP 34,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave and holidays

Pension benefits

Flexible working

Job summary

Women’s Aid Federation of England is seeking a Senior Policy Officer to lead policy development on key issues affecting women and child survivors of domestic abuse, with a focus on accommodation, education and family justice.

The role is remote (UK based) with travel to London, 37 hours per week, fixed-term until October 2027. You will work in the Policy team, developing evidence-based policy positions and materials, engaging with members and external partners.

Qualifications

• Understanding of policy development process and ability to secure policy change.
• Knowledge of policy issues related to violence against women and girls.
• Experience leading policy development and delivering evidence-based positions.
• Experience building relationships with external stakeholders.
• Experience analyzing information from diverse sources.
• Experience writing policy briefings, reports or information resources.
• Ability to respond to external developments and identify policy issues affecting survivors.

Responsibilities

• Identify public policy issues affecting survivors and lead policy positions.
• Collaborate with internal teams to engage members and survivors via surveys, focus groups, and interviews.
• Analyze evidence using diverse methods to inform policy development.
• Contribute to strategic thinking on priority policy areas.
• Produce policy materials such as reports, briefings, letters and web content.
• Lead responses to consultations on policy or practice affecting survivors.
• Attend key policy meetings with statutory agencies, government departments and parliamentarians.
• Build external relationships to strengthen policy recommendations and coordinate working groups.

Skills

Policy development

Stakeholder engagement

Research methods

Policy analysis

Written communication

Job description

Location: Remote (UK based) with travel to London

Salary: £34,200 per year (plus Inner London Weighting of £3,483.94, if eligible)

Length of contract: Fixed term until October 2027

Hours per week: 37

Who are Women’s Aid?

Women’s Aid is the national charity working to end domestic abuse against women and children. We are a federation of just under 180 organisations which provide over 300 local lifesaving services to women and children across England. For 50 years we have campaigned on behalf of our members and survivors to shape policy and practice, and to raise awareness of domestic abuse.

Our support services, which include the Survivors’ Forum, the No Woman Turned Away Project, the Survivor’s Handbook, Love Respect (our dedicated website for young people), the national Women’s Aid Directory and our advocacy projects, help thousands of women and children every year.

Purpose of the Senior Policy Officer role:

As a key part of Women’s Aid’s busy and dynamic Policy team, the post-holder leads policy development on some of the key issues facing women and child survivors of domestic abuse- 'with a particular focus on the issues that affect child survivors, including accommodation, education and the family justice system'. Works closely with both internal colleagues and external stakeholders to drive forward Women’s Aid’s policy programme to achieve change for survivors and specialist domestic abuse services, identifying and responding to the crucial policy issues they face. Develops evidence-based and survivor-led policy positions, and a range of influential policy materials.

Key duties and responsibilities of the Senior Policy Officer:

• Identifying public policy issues that affect survivors of domestic abuse and specialist domestic abuse services and leading the development of key policy positions on a range of issues
• Ensuring that survivors and member services are central to our policy development, working in collaboration with internal colleagues, to facilitate engagement with members and survivors where possible such as through surveys, focus groups and interviews.
• Analysing and synthesising evidence, and utilising a range of research methods for policy development
• Contributing to strategic thinking about the policy areas we prioritise as an organisation
• Producing a range of policy materials such as reports, briefings, letters and web content, ensuring that all outputs are evidence-based and centred on the needs of survivors and member services.
• Lead responses to consultations on policy or practice affecting survivors of domestic abuse, our member services and Women’s Aid nationally.
• Attend key policy focused meetings with statutory agencies, government departments, parliamentarians and other stakeholders to contribute our policy perspective.
• Building external relationships and partnerships to strengthen our policy recommendations, including by coordinating working groups and presenting at external meetings and events

What we are looking for in our Senior Policy Officer:

• A thorough understanding of the policy development process and experience of identifying policy problems and working towards and securing policy change.
• Sound knowledge of policy issues related to violence against women and girls.
• Experience of leading policy development on a range of issues, and delivering evidence based and influential policy positions.
• Experience of building relationships with external stakeholders
• Experience of analysing evidence and information from a wide range of sources.
• Experience of writing and producing policy briefings, reports or other information resources on policy issues.
• The ability to analyse and respond to external developments and identify policy issues impacting women and children experiencing domestic abuse.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate complex information into accessible

Benefits of joining us as our Senior Policy Officer include:

• Generous Annual Leave: 25 days + 2 Company Holidays + 8 UK Bank Holidays, with an extra 1 day per year after 1 year of service, up to a maximum of 5 days.
• Valuable Pension Benefits: a generous 7% employer contribution.
• Flexible Working: remote working, a generous TOIL scheme, and family-friendly policies

NB:

• Women only need apply under schedule 9 (Part 1) of the Equality Act 2010
• All posts, including remote posts, must be based in the UK.
• Women’s Aid is committed to quality, equality, and valuing diversity. Applications are particularly welcome from Black and minoritised women. Please see the Reasonable Adjustments Statement on Job Description.
• Please read our Single Sex Statement on the Women’s Aid Website
• Please note that applications will be reviewed, and interviews arranged, on a rolling basis, so for the bes tchance of success, please apply ASAP.